More people buying “lazy foods”

The BBC News Magazine reports this week on a growing trend of people relying on convenience foods such as pre-chopped carrots and onions, instead of buying the raw ingredients and doing the prep work themselves. As writer Finlo Rohrer reports, popular U.K. supermarket chain Waitrose released figures showing a 40% increase in the last year in people buying already peeled potatoes, a 14% increase in already-diced onions, and a 17% increase in all types of prepared veggies. Unsurprisingly, chefs and foodies don’t exactly embrace the trend—Rosalind Rathouse of London’s Cookery School told Rohrer that convenience foods are a short cut, and “not for people who truly love food, but just want to fill their stomachs.” Yet nutrition experts, like Judy Buttriss of the U.K.’s Nutrition Foundation, say that if buying “lazy foods” like pre-cut vegetables makes it easier for people to incorporate more veggies into their diets—instead of opting for convenience in the form of fast-food meals that tend to be high in fat and salt—then the slight loss in nutrients and flavor due to advanced preparation is a small price to pay.